Return to Earth From Space Home
Earth from Space logo Image Information Earth from Space logo

Display a Screen Layout for Printing

IMAGE: gray corner       IMAGE: gray corner
  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS021-E-8370 Date: Oct. 2009
Geographic Region: PERU
Feature: EL MISTI VOLCANO, AREQUIPA, CHILI RIVER

Ordering information for space photography
 
IMAGE: gray corner     IMAGE: gray corner

Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner
  View Low-Resolution Image  
  El Misti Volcano and Arequipa, Peru

Several Latin American cities have grown up on the flanks of active volcanoes. This astronaut photograph illustrates the proximity of the 5822 meter-high El Misti volcano image center) to the city of Arequipa, Peru (image right). The symmetric conical shape of El Misti is typical of a stratovolcano - a type of volcano characterized by interlayered lavas and products of explosive eruptions, such as ash and pyroclastic flow deposits. Stratovolcanoes are usually located on the continental crust above a subducting tectonic plate. Magma feeding the stratovolcanoes of the Andes Mountains - including El Misti - is associated with ongoing subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. El Misti's most recent - and relatively minor - eruption occurred in 1985.

The city center of Arequipa, Peru lies only 17 km away from the summit of El Misti; the gray urban area is bordered by green agricultural fields (image right). With almost 1 million residents in 2009, it is the second city of Peru in terms of population. Much of the building stone for Arequipa, known locally as sillar, is quarried from nearby pyroclastic flow deposits that are white in color. Arequipa is known as "the White City" because of the prevalence of this building material. The Chili River extends northeastwards from the city center, and flows through a canyon (image center) between El Misti volcano and Nevado Chachani to the north. Nevado Chachani is a volcanic complex that may have erupted during the Holocene Epoch (approximately 10,000 years ago to the present time) but no historical eruptions have been observed.
 
Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner

Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 159k
Mission: ISS021  
Roll - Frame: E - 8370
Geographical Name: PERU  
Features: EL MISTI VOLCANO, AREQUIPA, CHILI RIVER  
Center Lat x Lon: 16.3S x 71.4W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N2
 
Camera Tilt: 9   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 180  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: S   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number: 2510  
 
Date: 20091016   YYYYMMDD
Time: 184526   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 15.8S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 71.4W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 277   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 185   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 57   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: VOLCANO  
Water Views: RIVER  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: URBAN AREA  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


NASA
Home Page
JSC
Home Page
JSC Digital
Image Collection
Earth Science &
Remote Sensing

NASA meatball logo
This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.
ESRS logo